Many types and styles of protective gloves are known in the art. Depending on the type of environment, nature of work, or desired properties, these gloves are made from a variety of materials, including woven cloth fabrics, leather, natural latex or synthetic polymer elastomeric materials, or combinations of such materials.
Gloves made of woven fabrics generally allow the user's skin to breathe through the fabric such that perspiration from the hand may be wicked away by the fabric. Knit gloves are often desirable in that they allow for a relatively comfortable fit on the hand of the user. Additionally, knit gloves demonstrate at least some degree of inherent flexibility in order to accommodate movement of the user's hands. Knitting processes used to create woven knit gloves are typically slow and expensive.
Gloves that require greater protection against fluids, chemicals, or microscopic pathogens typically incorporate a barrier layer that is impervious to the undesirable substances. For example, surgical, examination, or work gloves typically are made using natural or synthetic rubber latex or other elastic polymer membranes. Unfortunately, the good barrier properties of such materials render the gloves generally non-breathable. Perspiration is trapped between the glove and the user's skin and creates a harsh an uncomfortable environment for the skin. High humidity that develops between the user's skin and the glove may have detrimental effects on skin health. Gloves of this sort may have powder disposed therein in order to help absorb moisture. In addition to becoming depleted over time, the powder may cause an allergic reaction to the skin of the user and/or may not be suitable in sensitive environments, such as an operating room or clean room.
It is generally known that certain advantages are obtained from making protective clothing articles from a laminate of a cloth-like material (i.e., a woven material) and an elastomeric or film material. The woven or other cloth-like material is typically used as an under layer and is joined with an elastomeric membrane or film as a barrier overcoat. Typically, the liners or under layers for such protective articles are generally thick, hence articles made from this type of process usually have poor flexibility and fit loosely.
The use of nonwoven materials in the construction of gloves is also known. However, previous gloves made from nonwoven materials typically do not have enough flexibility to allow for an adequate fit or lack control of surface properties such as softness, comfort, and texture, particularly on differentiation between exterior and interior surfaces. In addition, current nonwoven-based gloves are mostly fabricated together by a two-step swing and die-cutting process, which may produce relatively wide and stiff seams. For such gloves, traditionally, an inversion process is performed for inverting the glove to hide the seams. However, this results in the seams being placed against the user's skin. Additionally, the manufacturing process is labor intensive, and relatively slow and expensive. Furthermore, current nonwoven gloves often create an uncomfortable bulge in the palm area of the glove when a user closes his or her hand. This limits use of the gloves in certain applications where seamless woven knit gloves are used.
The present invention provides for an improved glove construction that incorporates nonwoven material and exhibits good flexibility to allow for a comfortable fit to the user.